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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
GOOD HOSTS AS IDEAL CITIZENS: CRAFTING IDENTITY
ON ISLA DE MUJERES
by
Ilda Jimenez y West
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(ANTHROPOLOGY)
August 2007
Copyright 2007 Ilda Jimenez y West

The underlying discovery of this dissertation is the conscious, intentional political project by Mexican government and tourism officials to promote an ideology of cultural citizenship that encompasses the notion of a clean and tidy citizen as a good host for tourists that visit Isla de Mujeres a small island located in the Mexican Caribbean. The promotion of cleanliness at the national, regional, and local levels by Mexican government officials and agencies translates into marketing campaigns such as signs and murals designed for Isleños eyes only. This dissertation also explores how this ideology is received and interpreted by the inhabitants of Isla de Mujeres. What is underlined in the commentary of Isleños is the racialization of cleanliness based on an ideology of a biological lineage having to do with a purity of blood or limpieza de sangre "cleanliness of blood" brought to New Spain/Mexico by Spanish conquistadores. The promotion of cleanliness at the national, regional, and local levels by Mexican government officials and agencies translates into marketing campaigns such as television and radio commercials, signs, murals, school curriculum, and extracurricular activities such as community organizations geared toward children. Cleanliness is not only valued and promoted because of environmental concerns but also because of Isla's main economic revenue source is tourism, thus the island's image is also at stake. Another discovery put forth in this dissertation is how the term mestizo/mestiza is used in local and regional colloquia. Mestiz@ is commonly defined to refer to an individual of mixed heritage in Mexico's case one with Spanish and indigenous blood. On the other hand, Islenos appropriate the term to differentiate amongst themselves and point out class and social economic status, for example someone who is mostly indigenous and a laborer.

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
GOOD HOSTS AS IDEAL CITIZENS: CRAFTING IDENTITY
ON ISLA DE MUJERES
by
Ilda Jimenez y West
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(ANTHROPOLOGY)
August 2007
Copyright 2007 Ilda Jimenez y West